The Chap is a British magazine published six times a year and related books edited by Gustav Temple, proposing a return to a dandified way of life, involving tweed, pipe smoking, brogues and finely pressed trousers. The magazine has featured such noted Chaps and Chapettes as Stephen Fry, Leslie Phillips, Sir Patrick Moore and Joanna Lumley. The magazine celebrated its tenth anniversary in December 2009 with the Grand Anarcho-Dandyist Ball in London.
The "Chappists" propose a revolution based not on violence or bomb-throwing, but on dressing with panache, drinking fine beverages and behaving with courtesy, especially to those from whom courtesy is not forthcoming. They have organised protests against modern art installations and bland corporations such as Gap, Starbucks and Nike, in addition to bland cities. Contributors have included Miss Martindale and Michael "Atters" Attree.
While Chappism appreciates British culture and loves tradition, it is nonetheless rooted in the Situationist strand of anarchism with more than the occasional nod to Dada. It is also indebted to Monty Python, Peter Cook, Spike Milligan and Viv Stanshall as much as it is to the avant-garde.
As The Chap enters its second decade, the magazine continues to plough its Wodehousian view of England, while England itself appears to gradually be coming round to The Chap's philosophy, with the return of the moustache, the monocle, tweed clothing and night clubs celebrating 1930s glamour and 1940s austerity fashions.
The Chap hosts a popular annual Chap Olympiad, normally held in Bedford Square Gardens, which is now in its 6th year.
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